Council elections lining up

There is still a month to go before the deadline to file candidacies for the Steamboat Springs City Council, but five candidates already have announced they will run.

Voters will be asked to choose representatives for four council seats in November. Those up for election include District I, held by Bud Romberg; District II, held by Arianthe Stettner; District III, held by Paul Strong; and an at-large seat held by Steve Ivancie.

Romberg and Strong have officially filed their candidacies with City Clerk Julie Jordan. Ivancie said he intends to run for the two-year at-large seat again.

After seven years on the council, Stettner said she would not seek another term. Two candidates have filed to replace her -- Planning Com-mission Chair-woman Kathi Meyer and Marcus Williams.

Jordan said candidates have been filing with the city over the past few months. On Aug. 5, nomination pe-titions can be obtained from the city. Candidates have until Aug. 25 to gather the re-quired 25 signatures and return them to the city to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot.

To run for City Council, candidates must be at least 18 years old, have lived in the municipality for at least 12 consecutive months before the date of the election and be a resident of the district they will represent.

The boundaries of the districts have changed. This winter, the council approved the district reconfiguration.

Precinct 3 was taken out of District II and added to Precincts 1 and 2 to form District I. Precinct 5 was taken from District III and added with Precincts 4 and 19 to form District II.

District III is comprised of Precincts 6 and 20.

Romberg, Strong and Ivancie are running for the seats they currently hold. All said they feel there is unfinished business remaining for the council.

Romberg is seeking his second four-year term representing District I. When he ran in 1999, he was uncontested.

His goals include fixing the Community Development Code and working on consolidation of the city and Mount Werner Water districts.

"I think there are things that have been started that I would like to see finished," Romberg said.

Strong, a certified pubic accountant, said his focus is on city finances and finding ways to fund capital projects. With sales tax declining, Strong said the city should look at ways to obtain new revenues and cut expenses.

"Being an accountant, it's a natural interest," Strong said. "It was one of the issues I ran on and was concerned about four years ago."

He also wants to finish the work he started as part of the oversight committee for the Community Area Plan update. Although the plan is expected to be approved by late October, Strong said the council would have to pass ordinances to put the plan's recommended policies in place.

Ivancie thought about running for the District II seat left open by Stettner, but the council's district reconfiguration put him in District I, which would have meant a race against Romberg. He chose to again seek the at-large seat.

"I feel like it has only been two years," Ivancie said. "It certainly has turned out to be challenging, but I think I am up to it and can contribute more."

Meyer ran against Ivancie for the at-large seat in 2000 and lost by 41 votes. She lists her three areas of concern as fiscal responsibility at the local level, affordable housing and economic diversity. Having served on the Planning Commission for six years, Meyer puts in about 60 public meetings a year. She also is the treasurer and board member for the Regional Affordable Living Foundation.

"I have put in more than 400 hours of public meetings and this time I want my vote to count," Meyer said.

The other District II candidate, Marcus Williams, could not be reached for comment.

Stettner served one term as the District II representative, one term as the at-large representative and was first appointed to replace Rich Tremaine in District II after Tremaine resigned from the council.

"Right now I am going to take a break from elected office and catch up with myself and catch up with other commitments and let someone else give it a try," Stettner said.